The hearing on objections filed by former trustee Mehli Mistry against the board of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) was on Tuesday adjourned to October 15. The trust sought more time from the assistant charity commissioner of Maharashtra to respond to Mistry’s objections.
Mistry had filed his objections on June 5 but while the matter was earlier listed for hearing on July 27, SRTT has not yet filed its response. Opposing SRTT’s request, Mistry’s legal representative requested that her objection to the extension be taken on record. In her submission, Mistry’s representative said the trust had had sufficient time to file its reply. “Despite sufficient time having been granted, the applicants have failed to file any reply,” she stated, arguing that no further opportunity was warranted and invoking the principle that “justice delayed, is justice denied”.
SRTT, represented by 10 lawyers, sought the extension citing a change in its reporting trustee. Vijay Singh, who was the reporting trustee when the change report was filed, ceased to be a trustee on August 14 after his term ended.
The trust told the presiding officer that Singh had affirmed the change report in his capacity as reporting trustee. Since he was no longer a trustee, SRTT said it was in the process of filing a separate change report recording the end of his tenure and an application seeking his substitution as reporting trustee.
The trust argued that this substitution needed to be completed before it could file its response to Mistry’s objections.
Mistry’s representative, however, argued that the substitution could be completed within a week and that the trust had already been granted adequate time. There was, therefore, no justification for another extension, the lawyer submitted.
SRTT’s lawyers countered that an adjournment until the substitution was completed would not cause any prejudice to Mistry or any other party.
The matter of appointing a new reporting trustee, however, could run into a hurdle given the charity commissioner’s ban on SRTT board meetings, experts observed, in which case, the issue of the reporting trustee would remain unresolved.
Separately, Mistry’s objections against two other Tata Trusts — the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and the Bai Hirabai Jamsetji Tata Navsari Charitable Institution (BHJTNCI) — were also listed for hearing before the charity commissioner on Tuesday.
Both matters were adjourned to October 15 in the absence of the presiding officer. The hearings were listed before a separate court at the charity commissioner’s premises in Mumbai.
In the SDTT matter, Mistry has alleged governance irregularities, including his removal as a trustee. He has, however, stated in his filing that his objective in raising the concerns is not to seek reinstatement as a trustee.
In the BHJTNCI matter, Mistry has questioned the eligibility of certain trustees under the trust deed. His objections refer to provisions requiring trustees to belong to the Zoroastrian Parsi faith and to be permanent residents of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, covering present-day Mumbai and/or Navsari.
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